Go easy on him. The game-winner may have come on Omar Gonzalez’s watch – he was clearly not expecting Jerry Bengtson sneaking up behind him to score the decider – but Klinsmann refuses to lay the blame on the LA Galaxy defender: “There will always be moments when there’s miscommunication,” Klinsmann said. “But the backline is not the reason we lost that game.”

If there’s an area of the field that Klinsmann was particularly critical of, it was the midfield. "That's why we did the subs in midfield," the USMNT manager said. "We didn't find our passing flow, we didn't combine well enough, we didn't hold the ball well enough. We often lost the ball far too early."

Fans of the New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas will be able to forget about the USMNT match quicker than others. RBNY will play Swedish side Malmö in a preseason match this afternoon (3:30 p.m. ET, catch the live stream here). One hour later, FC Dallas take on the reserve side of Liga MX club Atlante in Cancún, Mexico.

There may be plenty of people rooting for a Frank Lampard landing in MLS. Not England manager Roy Hodgson. After the Chelsea midfield legend notched another international goal for the Three Lions yesterday, Hodgson made it clear: “I'm rather hoping we'll still see him if not in England, then Europe, which will make my task easier,” he said. “If he goes further afield and follows David [Beckham], it complicates matters.”

The infirmary list is much longer for the defending Supporters’ Shield winning San Jose Earthquakes and it’s already a cause for concern: “I’m a little nervous,” manager Frank Yallop admitted. “We’ve not really seen many of our guys yet, and we’re two weeks into preseason. It’s up to the rest of the squad to carry that and not worry about it and just get results.”

LA Galaxy tickets have been in demand in recent years with the presence of former midfield star Beckham. Without the Englishman, who has since moved to Paris Saint-Germain, don’t expect Robbie Keane to take on the mantle of star attraction: “I don’t think I’m ever going to be an MLS pin-up,” Keane said. “With my Irish skin, I don’t think so. People might get a fright at how white I am.”